Halo: Inevitable
by Str1ke Ninja
Summary: Half a decade after the Human Covenant war, SPARTANS are numerous now and more common place than before. however, a loyalist and his crew are bringing a counter attack in the name of the now deceased Hierarchs. War will happen again. it is Inevitable...
1. Prologue

Str1ke:Haiz! This is my first fic. please be nice. ^^

Disclaimer: Other than the OC Characters, I own nothing. ALL HAIL BUNGIE

* * *

**Prologue**

Ever since the success of the SPARTAN II project went public, the UNSC have kept trying to build effective soldiers that fight just as well as the original 75. Luckily, a huge store of augmentation metal found on a mining colony and the applicable age of selection turned from child napping 6 years old to just after adulthood at 18 due to advances in augmentation...

Name-Zackariah Samuels  
Nationality-Singaporean  
Service tag-K-47/SPII-recruit

"This one?"  
"Not a chance!"  
BOOM! The doors leading to UNSC's training facilities board room slammed open. A tall, muscular man appeared and walked in. With a trail of smoke from his cigar and a stench of sweat from his rigorous personal training regiment, it was impossible for everyone not to know who he was. Sergeant Avery Johnson bolted through the door and marched right up to the Director's table.  
"What do you mean we won't take him in? You read his report. Strong willed, toned muscles and video clips of his personnel training regiment. It almost matches what we put our own through."

The Director was quick to counter. "Sergeant, the intake list is full. We cannot take in anymore people."

"Spare me the statistics. If he wants to become a SPARTAN that bad, he will endure. Now, will you let him on?"

The Top Brass glared at the Sergeant. "Do you want him?"

As soon as the question was raised, the door slammed open once again. This time, a squad of Spartans trooped right in, shoving away the guards that were at the front door. The leader was standing in modified Japanese inspired Mjolnir armour and shook his fist at the Top Brass. "Listen pal, you may be the overseer, but when it concerns a potential member to the Roster, we intervene."

Johnson is technically a Spartan, having survived the Orion project. The UNSC's first attempt at producing Super Soldiers. "If you won't take him," In a blur, the Spartans surrounded the Top Brass and their hands reached for their Sidearms. "We will."

There was no negotiating with the Sergeant Major. Johnson has lived through more battles than seven entire squadrons of ODSTs combined. Furthermore, he was dealing with Spartans that were close to the edge. He had to let him on.

"Alright Sergeant, you walking tanks will take him in, on one condition. You will push him as hard as you can."

"Yes Sir!" The Spartans saluted then left.

The Top Brass reached for the intercom. "Reinstate service tag K-47. Do it."

**

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A/N: **Story is beta'd by Truth and Reconciliation and ijijijij.(weird name i know.)1337haxor

ijijij: noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1337haxor lolz111

T&R:Wassup homiez

Str1ke: Hey guys! (well, here is my editing group (we are a whacky bunch))

T&R + ijijijij: NAM!

Zack:(~zzz~zzz~)

Str1ke: Riiiiight... cya nhext chapter!

T&R: Rechecked on 7/11/09


	2. Boot Camp

Disclaimer: Other than OC characters, I own NOTHING. ALL HAIL BUNGIE

* * *

**BOOT CAMP**

South East England-Oxford University Dormitory  
June-6-2560

Zack was the average Jock in Rugby by the time he reached the selection age. He possessed a well built body and awfully dense bones that made him weigh more than he should. At first his friends and fellow team mates thought he was joking until they were given that cold stare to show them his seriousness. The moment his tertiary education was over along with his diploma, he was the first in line on a plane to leave the small Island of Singapore and land in Washington USA where he was put through an intensive boot camp to prepare him for the demands of the fabled Mark VI Armour of the Spartan Super soldiers. However, a messenger knocked on his doorway to tell it straight in his face. "I'm sorry kid, there are no more slots for the SPARTAN program. Try again next year."

Zachariah swore under his breath. He had sent application after application along with sped up holotapes of his dedication and still he was denied. In a moment of anger, he took a rugby ball and threw it at the UNSCDF poster at the wall before sitting down to collect his thoughts. A little while later, he was doing squats to calm down. It was a habit of his to just start doing squats whenever he was angry or uptight.

'Back to life as a Marine I guess...' The rugby player thought to himself.

It had been an hour since he went into a tantrum. Neverless, he managed to cool down. Like one of his Spartan posters said, "A Spartan Is Cool Under Pressure". He stared out of the window and wandered into deep thought. Thoughts were racing in his head. Should he accept facts and wait for a few more years or should he just stay as an average marine?

All of a sudden, he heard a knock on his door. Unaware to him, option three was just behind the door. A voice came from behind the door. "Permission to enter, not required!".

BANG!

The door flew open. A Spartan stood in front of him. Zachariah immediately stood at attention.

"Sir!"

A soldier appeared from behind the Spartan. He wore a standard sergeant's cap. The Soldier pointed at Zachariah. "You boy, are one lucky sunnava bitch. Pack your stuff, you're going to hell..."

"Thank you sir. I've always wanted to go to hell...I mean I always wanted to be a Spartan."

"Not just yet kid. You gotta be judged by God before going to hell."

* * *

**SPARTAN selection Facility**

**Medical bay**

It has been a week since he was enlisted in the Spartan program. It was indeed hell. The drill sergeants would find every possible second to make them suffer but to the Spartans, it was a jog in the countryside. For Zack, however, it was survival in the arctic but he loved every second of it. Within that week, he gained so much muscular mass, he couldn't even recognise himself. That evening, instead of the usual, five Kilometre jog, he was invited into a chamber. He walked in without suspecting a thing. After all, not jogging five kilometres was kind of a grace from all the hard work. Suddenly, a light activated, illuminating a steel table. Sergeant Avery Johnson appeared from the corner of the chamber. "Lie down boy. You seem tired."

"A Spartan is never tired in the line of duty, nor in training, Sir!"

Chuckling at the recruit's enthusiasm, Johnson remarked, "You're not a Spartan yet. Not until after this..."

Zack imagined himself being taken to a room where he was submerged in water, and above the tank, was overlying large syringes ready to pierce his body. instead, he was given a shot before blacking out moments later.

**

* * *

**

**Spartan Training Facility**

**Holographic Combat Simulation Arena**

Major Seth Marcus was matched up with yet another group of soldiers, a mix of high and low ranking officers in combat training. He often wondered how they managed to keep their rank, and yet lose so horribly to him in the process. Shelving that thought yet again, he stood on one of ten teleport pads where the two of five teams were to be dropped in to the training zone. Two teams, Red and Blue, one seasoned veteran against five officers ranging from 2 star commanders to 4 bar Master Sergeants.

'Just another day' he thought as the map chosen was the Pit, a training ground with a mix of corridors and towers. It was his favourite map with plenty of 2 things. The BR55 SR Battle rifle, a trooper's 3 round burst firing best friend, and the "eagle" officially known as the Mauler, a sawed off shot gun in the form of a disfigured revolver sporting a bloated round chamber and a serrated blade in front of the trigger. Loud and ineffective at longer ranges, this small weapon is capable of taking out an opponent within range with a single burst and a quick melee with the blade. His thoughts were interrupted by the countdown alert. 'blip', 'blip' ,'blip', 'beep!' START.

Spawning at a corridor with a rocket in the centre, Seth quickly doubled back and reached for the Battle Rifle that was sitting on its stock, waiting for someone smart to pick it up. Satisfied with the amount of rounds, he discarded his starting weapon without a second thought.

The MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, a weapon capable of full automatic fire but at the cost of damage per round, was inferior to the more versatile Battle Rifle. Sprinting back to where he spawned he crouched at the wall, peering out in ambush of his foe, for the rocket launcher was huge bait that almost no one can resist. True to experience and a little luck, a Spartan in standard issue Mark VI armour simply ran in without a second thought. Silently, he aimed for the unsuspecting foe's head and delivered 4 full bursts of lead into his head before he had time to react. The poor guy was teleported elsewhere as he waited to respawn in another location. Checking his Heads Up Display (HUD), it turned out it was a Captain rank officer that fell prey to the oldest trick in the book. Shaking his head, Seth reloaded his weapon and proceeded towards his next kill.

Backed by his experience, training from the best along with the fact that there was absolutely no teamwork among the other nine participants, there was nothing that he couldn't tear through to earn his umpteenth MVP medal. In actual fact, he was taking it easy.

* * *

Strike ;( Done. It took me a while. Look out for the next one!)  
Q ;( Strike, you talk too much. (Mauler burst to the head))

T&R: Rechecked on 7/11/09


	3. Awakening

Str1ke:Chapter 2 is up!

Definition:took you long enough

Str1ke: I get it, I fail. geeez.

Definition: your alright la.

Str1ke:fine... do the disclaimer.

Definition: Str1ke does not own Halo, other than the OC guys he added, the rest belongs to Bungie.

* * *

**Awakening**

* * *

**Augmentation room**

Zack awoke to find himself in a small blue room. In front of him was a table, some tools, a clip board and further down, a glass wall with a man in the Lab coat he saw earlier. "Good morning Zack, you have finally awoken." He droned as he walked towards his console. Zack tried to get out of his bed but found himself strapped to it by metal cuffs to his hands and feet. Cursing to himself, he looked on, only to see the bearded man press a few buttons before hearing "Crash test initiated." from the over head speaker. Zack could only watch as a large concrete block suspended above him was dropped onto his head from the ceiling, only to spit out debris and feel a throbbing pain on his head as he observed the shattered pieces of concrete that fell. The man began to explain, "No need to worry Zack, you have been sedated before implantation. You are almost indestructible, but be warned though. Invulnerability does not mean invincibility so take care of yourself in battle. No one is god-like. It's just your super strength and your wits out at the battlefield."

With that, Zack tugged at the chains and managed to free himself by sheer brute force within a minute and walked out the door, conveniently placed next to the glass wall and followed the lights to his next destination. He found himself in a large white room filled with holographic screen terminals, researchers, and smaller rooms. However, what caught his eye was the suit of armour that was before him. The pristine green finish of the Mark VI Mjolnir armour, the outer layer of its torso resembling the human body, its leggings covering just enough to ensure mobility wasn't compromised, all part of a multilayered network connected to the helmet. Its gold concave visor, along with the aggressive looking design became a symbol of the military. As fate would have it, it was time to strap on his armour. "Undress and please remain as still as possible." ordered the female assistant standing next to the armour. Zack did so and kept thinking of what he would become as they began encasing him in what legends were made of.

* * *

**Top Brass meeting room**

Seth marched to Headquarters under strict orders from the Top brass himself. It was rare that he ordered a private audience with anybody and Seth could think of any reason at all. When he strode in through the large blue double doors, a guard consisting of the best of the best stood before him, among them, most of them he trains with. Michael, also known as Elts, his worst enemy, was among them.

Standing in red and grey modified Mjolnir armour, he sports a helmet labelled "The Rogue Variant". It consists of a small visor that resembles a pair of sunglasses, a thicker mouth-guard with an added "hole" in the centre of the mouthpiece, giving a external plated appearance. His torso, labelled Hayabusa sports a neck guard and a delta like plating strapped on to it. He is arrogant, talkative and downright annoying, along with the skill with a sniper rifle to back it up. In fact, that is the only reason he is on the guard.

Other legends include Jel, known as Mobius, a Pilipino who is known for near unstoppable proficiency in the said weapon. His modifications, other than a coral and grey colour scheme, include the Hayabusa torso and pauldrons labelled as the Scout variant attached above the elbow that are straight and angular in appearance, providing greater freedom of movement. Since he is reached the rank of a 5 star general, he was awarded the Katana that was to be worn in conjunction with his Hayabusa armour only on ceremony or on guard duty.

However, the one that caught his eye was the Spartan known as Benjamin, elsewhere as Noobocalypse who wore an incomplete set of Hayabusa armour, the left pauldron made up of 3 overlapping plates inspired by samurai armour, the helmet consists of 7 angular spikes, one to each side and the face plate is fused into a single piece and contour. The top rear guard of the helmet is pointed, revealing the protruding spike. The bottom rear, around the neck forms a sort of neck the other two pieces, inspired by samurai armour. All but his right pauldron, which is Hayabusa is standard Mark VI. His reasons are unknown. Despite not of eligible rank, his skill with the sniper rifle surpasses them all, earning him the Katana on the spot. He gave thumbs up to his ex squad mate, which meant something good was about to happen.

"Approach, Major." The Top Brass motioned in a gentler than usual tone. Seth marched forward and saluted. The Top Brass returned the salute and cleared his throat. "Major Seth Marcus, you have proven time and time again, like those before you," he motioned to Benjamin, "that rank does not define your skill in battle." With that, he unveiled a badge with the words "COMMANDER" engraved in it. A chip was inserted into his helmet. "Congratulations, Commander Marcus. Within this chip is imprinted your Commander details so other Spartans and recognize you." Seth wasn't the proud type but deep from within, a scream of joy ignited. His skills were finally recognized.

* * *

Strike; Yay! Part 2 done! Cya later!

T&R – Rechecked on 7/11/09

T&R- Side note: Duuude, bands on a table? Sounds like BDSM!!!

Str1ke - What have you been?--- uuuh, never mind. hehehehehe


	4. Final Test

Str1ke:Phew. took me a while, though I'd bring it out early. next up, my favourite map.

Zack:YAY! I get to do stuff this time! ^^

Str1ke: Only if you do the disclaimer.

Zack: Str1ke does not own Halo, any references or anything, other than OC characters. ALL HAIL Square En-*Bang* -I mean BUNGIE!!!!!!

Str1ke: good boy. [pat pat]

Zack:=_=

* * *

3. Final Test

**Research sector cum Physical training facility**

Zack was finally put through a series of field tests to ensure that the new MJOLNIR armour was functioning. Things like reaction time and syncing actions with pure thought. Zack needed a little time to adjust, but soon, he was back on the track with the rest of his batch, a mix of races, age groups, all as one unit. What caught his attention was a captain level Spartan running with the rest of them. His insignia and armor modifications were easy to make out. Looking at his HUD he scanned through the comm. channels and found a private channel that wasn't voice locked. Curiosity got the better of him. The first thing he heard was, 'Sweet. More Americans who think they are big shots. Destroying them will be fun. Muahahahahahahahaha.'

Without thinking, Zack shot back and replied, 'Hey, watch it! Americans are obnoxious I know, I was born there. I'm Singaporean too. Just like you '. The Captain screamed out of shock for a minute before a new voice was heard. 'Russell, by my authority as your brother and your superior, pull out now!' Russell immediately left. The new voice represented by a 2 star insignia apologised and left but not before giving his name. "My name is Seth Marcus, 1st Commander of the Singapore Company. I have high expectations of you. Your written exam was excellent, especially that report on anti-covenant warfare. However, book smarts is not everything. Let's see how you remember your facts in the heat of battle. Good luck with the field test. I will be waiting." The commander then left just as the call was made to get into position to fall in.

* * *

**Campaign Simulation Room**

The XO happened to be Russell. Aside from a dark gray and coral colour scheme, the armour he wore looked different. It looked like an older version of the helmet, the Mark V, which looked a little more plain, largely rounded shoulder pauldrons with a section with an upper centre, trapezium-shaped arm guard going out the bottom and a rounded section above it and an H shaped plating attachment to his chest. His words were straight to the point. "All you green horns who just got fitted with the standard issue armour just got the tip of the iceberg. It is time for your field test consisting of holographic opponents from a real situation encountered by the Ultimate Legend, Spartan 117! Followed by a free for all combat exercise on a map of my choice, passing of which you will earn the option to modify your armor with basic choices, earning more as you progress. The field test is so difficult, it is insane! It will challenge your nerves, skill or lack thereof", his helmet pointed to the Americans before he concluded with, "I expect most of you to fail. Step on the teleport pads and prepare to drop into virtual hell. Good luck."

With that, he entered the code to set up the arena and all the Spartan recruits were sent to their individual test fields. Zack found himself in an area with thick vegetation and cover in the clearing. He found himself armed with a BR55 HB SR rifle and a 99D-S2 Anti-Matériel Sniper rifle, often considered the king of power weapons. The Battle Rifle was of a bullpup design, featuring a electronic ammo counter like the MA5C ICWS. It also sported a scope attachment capable of 2x magnification, mounted on what could be used as a makeshift handle used to carry the weapon when out of combat. Zack did not have much time to think about that as he heard a distinct "wort wort wort" and the activation of energy swords, weapons with a curved shaped hilt that, when activated shapes and contains superheated Plasma, two small magnetic-field generator built into the handle of the weapon help form the iconic oval shaped, ionized blades.

'Russell was right about the insane part.' The reptilian aliens clad in shark inspired helmets that stood before him were labelled as Elites, who often lead lower ranking species into battle. In this simulation, there were 7 of them. White armour signified their rank as Ultras, with superior shielding and a fondness for their close combat tool of destruction. Calmly, he took the Sniper rifle and steadily aimed for their heads. Zack waited for their notorious battle cry and fired. 3 Elites went down in the first shot due to the rifle's shield ripping, over penetrating power before switching to his Battle Rifle and by lobbing a grenade, taking out the other 4's shields before taking all of them out in 4 bursts. All over the ceiling, the announcer spewed out names of those who failed like a machine gun. The said weapon happened to be at the front of the room, which got over run in an instant. Zack found the course survivable seeing as he only lost 1/4th of his hit points thanks to plasma fire coming from two of the Ultras. Chuckling to himself, he thought of what he could shape his armour into as he was teleported out back to the training centre.

* * *

Str1ke:Another chapter done. ^^

Zack: I'm gonna go sleep with my BR now. bye bye.

T&R – Rechecked on 7/11/09


	5. Guardian

Str1ke: tweaked it ALOT, here you go.

Definition: Took you long enough Str1ke.

TnR: NOM NOM NOM

Str1ke and Definition: ?!?!?!?!?!?

TnR: Hey, no fair! I want to help too...

Tou could have just said so.

Zack: can I take a nap now?

Str1ke: (slams BR into Zack's stomach) Disclaimer, Now.

Zack:Disclaimer: Str1ke Ninja and friends do not own halo nor the infinite number of 7 references. All rights belong to Bungie.

Str1ke: good boy. *pat pat*

Zack: =_=

* * *

**Guardian**

"All who made it through the simulation please assemble in the left wing. Those who didn't make it, you can try again next month at the retake." Bellowed the announcer as Zack marched to his waiting area.

Unlike the majority who did not make it, Zack did his homework. The color each Elite wore not only signified rank, but also shields strength and experience. From what he saw in the recordings, most darted for the chain gun in hopes of eliminating everything that spawned through the door, and of course, failing. An understandable reaction for a marine, but for a Spartan, they had to be smart.

* * *

**Combat Simulation Facility**

As soon as everyone gathered at the blue grid tiled training room, Russell took the pedestal again. "Congratulations on making it through the simulation. However, simple bots are not effective for real training." As soon as he finished, a hologram of a map layout labelled 'Guardian' came into view.

A circular floor serves as the centre of the map, leading to a sniper tower on one end and a gravity lift on the other end. The floor below consists of a corridor running the map's length with a sniper rifle resting at the end. The middle of the map branches out into two directions, a small blue circular room leading to the gravity lift and a cliff leading to the foliage and a walkway connecting the sniper tower to the rest of the map.

The lower level of the centre was housed by a small glass room that provided cover from direct fire, housing a large gravity hammer, capable of unleashing shockwaves that can send the unlucky flying to Timbuktu . It split into east and west like the upper floor, east leading to a path way towards the gravity lift and the other directly into the foliage, one path leading to the sniper tower and the other direction led to a gravity lift that took you to the other end of the glowing pad known as the man cannon that sent you into the air, landing at the other edge of the gravity lift room. The entire map was surrounded by mist, blocking off the map boundary.

Russell concluded his briefing by stating, "Regular to 25 kills win. Even a marine without balls can win in this challenge. The best 3 out of 6 gets a prize."

Zack glanced at his opponents. Behind those motionless visors were his fellow Spartans. But for now, he was staring at the enemy. All of them would spawn with the MA5C. A full clip can take someone out, but how to use the weapon effectively was another story. Zack stepped onto the teleportation pad. He was mentally prepared for the slayer challenge but he wasn't physically. The previous challenge was already quite tiring. He took a deep breath and was teleported to the arena.

Zack spawned at the blue room. Scanning his surroundings, he saw a revolver like weapon on the floor which piqued his interest. He picked it up as a side arm and discarded his pistol. He noted 2 containers with rippling energy contained within. 'Environmental explosives' Zack thought. He doubled back to the edge of the hallway, only to find 2 more explosives that looked like power cells, a large gap in the floor, and the ramp leading to the grav lift floor. Observing a red dot behind him on his motion tracker, he took out his side arm and turned. No one was there. Recalling the layout, there was a floor beneath him. Zack decided to wait until he saw the combatant before he leapt below. True enough, a Spartan charged through the hallway to find a dead end. Seizing his chance, Zack jumped right down and fired the Revolver to his head.

With a quick melee just to be sure. The kick back knocked him off for a split second but luckily, his opponent seemed oblivious. His reaction time was slow even for the enhanced reflexes granted by the Mjolnir power armor. A small message reading,"Chen Yi Killed By Zachariah" flashed on the lower left side of his HUD. A small smile drew on his face. 'That is pathetic' he though before looking at the weapon again. Zack looked at the blade in front of the hand guard and recalled a weapon with that description. The Mauler was built to deceive others into believing it was weak. Just as he was about to move, Zack stepped on something. He looked down and he smiled yet again. He saw a M90, pump action shotgun fully loaded and ready for use. He discarded the mauler for the Shotgun and charged towards the gravity lift where he saw an opponent couching with a large hammer like weapon. The gravity hammer. He was staring at the opposite direction. Zack crouched, slowly closed the gap between them and struck. A medal with a ninja mask appeared at the middle left of his HUD. The rest of the match involved primitive use of the Assault Rifle in a run and gun form of attack. He bagged a single killing spree and a double kill with some melees, but ended up in second place behind a combatant of Japanese origin. As he looked down the post match statistics, he found that, aside from a positive Kill death ratio (k/d) the person with the least kills and the worst k/d was the American guy. The same person to have gave him his second and subsequent kills.

* * *

Str1ke: hope you liked it! ^^

T&R – rechecked on 7/11/09


	6. Armor

Str1ke: sorry it took me some time. well, here it is. review, flame, what ever...

TnR:Str1ke, why the long face?

Str1ke: Exams...

TnR, Thats ok, the class is failing too.

Str1ke: Like that does anything. T-T

Zack:(sleep walking with his precious.)

TnR: He can never let it go can he?

Str1ke: (face palm) Disclaimer: Str1ke does not own Halo, the universe, it's 7 references, or anything, just the OC Characters among other things.

* * *

**Armor**

"Top 3, please make your way to the armoury, those who washed out, head straight to the barracks"

Zack trooped with the other two winners who looked far less than exhausted. In fact, like him, they were ecstatic. The Japanese Spartan who wouldn't identify himself claimed to have never run into a sage coloured Spartan, who was Zack. The other guy had nothing at all to say. At the Armoury, as one would imagine, was stocked with everything one can think of. M-41 Rocket launchers, M90 Shotguns, all known MA5 models, the M6 hand gun series, other than the M6D, etc. Standing at the apparel section stood the Spartan in white and blue Japanese inspired Mjolnir armour, later identified as Hayabusa introduced himself as Noobocalypse, the greatest Spartan on the Top Brass' Royal Guard. He was tasked to issue pass codes to the winners which enables them to enter the outfitting room. A dark, poorly lit room with cubicle like rooms all lined up in isles, each with little to offer but a terminal. "From here, you can access unlocked permutations to modify your armour with. Different choices mean different bonuses in combat scenarios. For example, Hayabusa, earned by locating all the skulls scattered throughout the Campaign simulation, where you relive the exploits of Spartan 117-"

Noobocalypse was about to rant on until he paused before commenting, "Sorry, I will cover that later. Here are your spoils."

After a gesture by the white and blue Spartan, the lights flickered on, and three suits of Mjolnir armor came into view. To the Left, was a suit labelled as the Mark VI C variant, otherwise known as CQB was meant for Close Quarter Combat. The Helmet is very different from the Mark VI. It featured a roughly "T" shaped visor with two large cheek guards. The Shoulder pauldrons consist of a single rectangular, slightly curved metal plate that is attached at the lower part of the upper arm, greatly easing movement. The top of the helmet was protected by black alloy that forced a protective brace on top. The Chest was an attachment to the Standard torso, consisting of an additional set of four plates fused together in the body, and a tubular object at the bottom part of the chest plate which could either be a handle or some sort of canister due to its shape. There was a combat Knife on the plate as well as a built-in sheath for extreme close encounters.

The Suit in the middle was the Scout variant, granting near invisibility on motion trackers in live fire scenarios. The armour on the right was an empty mannequin. All but the head, which wore the familiar ODST helmet, reverse engineered and upgraded for Spartan use. It has a dark protective plate with titanium armour surrounding it along with polarisable face plates for a more intimidating look. While the regular face plate is blue, the Spartan variant is the regular Orange Gold. "This baby possesses not only a mean look, but has enhanced tech unavailable to regular Mark VI. It possesses greater motion tracker range, thermal scanners and a different HUD. You can change your armour combination right now if you wish. More are available when you unlock them."

Zack decided to take the Scout shoulders, CQB chest, and the nostalgic ODST helmet. After everything was up and running, Zack found a message in his inbox, a internal announcement to return to the barracks to collect their Dog tags and service tags. This time, Seth was standing at the door, clad in Sage Scout armour, with Hayabusa torso and the ODST helmet. "Recruits! Now you have choose what you want your dog tags to say. It is your name, your alias. Your service tag consists of a Letter and 2 numbers and is for combat reference only. You can change your service tag whenever you wish, but your Dog tag stays with you for your entire career. Choose wisely."

Zack was not prepared for this one. Yes, he had a few nicknames from school. They came mostly from inside jokes. After some squats and hard thinking, it hit him. Strike Ninja. He liked the theme too, seeing as it suited his combat style, recalling when he bagged a slew of assassinations. He entered it, it was taken. Cursing to himself, he looked through the original Strike Ninja's profile. He has retired years ago and no one took up a variation of his name since. He tried one, and it worked. Str1ke Ninja was born, and the real training will begin. Everyone was given a rank decal to wear. All of them were Privates, which was located at the bottom of the list. Looking at the rank chart, the newly dubbed Str1ke realised he had a long way to go.

* * *

Str1ke:Well, back to mugging. later guys!

T&R – Rechecked on 8/11/09


	7. Campaign

Str1ke: [looks through story stats] am I that bad?

random guy:your a P3n15.

Str1ke: o.O

Definition: Str1ke, your doing alright. Just because it is short, does not mean it sucks.

Str1ke: no reviews, or high hits.... sucks...

Zack: [Face palm] Disclaimer: Str1ke and friends do not own Halo.

Str1ke: Thanks Zack.

* * *

6. Campaign

**Campaign simulation facility**

"And that is skull number, wait, is this one even on the list?"  
Zachariah Samuels, having survived basic training, along with coming out the top 3 gave privileges to champions. Having one the option to change his armour meant automatic access to the Campaign simulation. After getting a proper briefing on how to unlock the once popular Hayabusa armour set, offering greater speed enhanced reflexes like a ninja. So far, Zack has stormed through the simulation on Heroic, the second most difficulty represented by a Tower shield with 2 crossed machetes.

Campaign mode was a simulation zone created after positive feedback of the accuracy of the Believe monument dedicated to John 117, the greatest of them all. Material came from footage of the Human-Covenant war found in the helmets of the marines who served with him. The gaps came from satellite imagery taken from the orbiting ship at the time, The In Amber Clad and later on, the Forward Unto Dawn. Zack went through the simulation as an alternate method of training, learning how his enemies fought in the past could give some familiarity with his opponents should him ever meet their kind in present day. Of course, it would not be fun without some Easter eggs to find. After contacting Ben about the skulls hidden throughout the simulation, he learnt that acquiring all the skulls would grant him access to the armour that he wore. After finishing the entire thing on the second hardest difficulty, Zack hit the sack, wondering if his efforts paid off.

* * *

**Observatory room**

Seth Marcus looked into the security camera with content. He was right about this one. Zachariah Samuels was one of the greatest recruits ever to have passed through training. He had aced his entry paper as a marine recruit, possessed a never say die attitude, always looked out for his squad mates, no matter how dire the situation and never gave what he did less than his absolute all. Behind him, Ben Khoo, his trainer patted him on the shoulder. "Like what you see old friend?" he queried with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Seth replied, "He definitely has potential. May I take him on? We were master and apprentice once before, you and I."

Ben reached into his left ammunition pouch. Since the Human-Covenant war ended, the pouches were used like every day pockets. He produced a datapad with a thumb-print scanner. "That is why we brought you here. Are you sure you want him? You have fought together when he was a marine. You're the best man for the job."

Seth was all too happy to oblige. 'Q4Vendetta linked to Str1ke Ninja' beeped the machine.

Ben was about to leave before reminding him, "Training starts tomorrow"

* * *

**Barracks**

**500 Hrs**

"Attention!"

In the Morning, Zack woke up to find a Spartan in Sage armour standing in front of him as he awoke. When his eyes refocused,he realized who he was and snapped to attention. "Str1ke Ninja ready for orders.

"Sir!"

"At ease Spartan, you know who I am."

Zack looked at his dog tag and his eyes widened. Q4Vendetta had saved his life some years back when he was serving as an ODST. As soon the news sank in, he was honoured to be his apprentice.

Seth Marcus was a kind but firm leader. Under him, he was taught how he fought, the general skills of a veteran, along with grenade oriented tactics he personally developed. He was understanding towards Zack's original difficulties and made allowances to his rigorous training regime and expectations when training non-stop with the BR55HB SR. Usually, he would rope in his brother, Russell to train with them, benchmarking Zack's progress against a perceived out come in cruel 1 vs. 2 rounds. At first, he could barely hit a quarter of the highest average score, but after a few weeks of dedication, he managed to hit the halfway mark, hitting the expectations that he originally expected. "Alright, I think it is time for you to meet the guys I train with. But that will have to wait. It is time to hit the sack. You're doing well Zack. It feels just like the last time we met…. Never mind. See you in the Morning."

**

* * *

**

**Unknown Covenant Carrier**

**Outskirts of Reach**

"All preparations ready master." A stocky alien responded  
Brandishing his Gravity hammer and activating it for visual confirmation, The Scarred Jiralhanae replied, "Good. Let's go. That mere human will pay for this wound a hundred times over"

* * *

Read and review when your done. just drop a comment when your done so I know your reading this. thanks.

Str1ke

T&R – Rechecked on 8/11/09


	8. This is not a drill

Str1ke: Well, took me long enough, exams and OBS is over. Next up, here comes something.

TnR: Took you long enough. I've been bugging you for days.

Str1ke: SORRY! Been trying to get Recon. JUST 3 MORE VIDMASTERS

TnR: Why me?

ijijij: Thats ok, I get that feeling too. NAM face.

T&R: Note that this is the first chapter that is done in collaboration of Str1ke, T&R and ijijij. You can tell that the chapters are getting longer...

Zack: Str1ke, Truth and Reconciliation or ijijij does not own Halo. Just the new characters. ALL HAIL BUNGIE

* * *

**7. ****This is not a drill**

* * *

**Orbital Defense Platform Observatory room**

**0100 hrs**

Brian was standing at his post, monitoring the airspace from between the orbital ring and the planet. A boring job since there was absolutely nothing on the screen most of the time since March 2553 since the War came to an end. Sometimes, it would be a meteor heading its way towards the surface but other than that, absolute coin drop silence. Mark strolled through the door to take the graveyard shift. Seeing as his partner was sleeping again because he forgot to finish his coffee, he thought he would inject some teenager mischief to the dull routine. Seizing the half filled coffee cup, he poured it all over his head, waking him up with a start. "Hey! What was that for?"

Mark guided him out of the room while attempting to contain his laughter and not get pummelled by his roommate. As he entered his thumbprint into the timeslot marker to register, five minutes of inaction led to a Slipspace Rupture pouring through the air space next to the Orbital Defence Ring.

'I guess the spooks at ONI are going to have to pull out every top secret project they have for a field test' Thought Mark as he Radioed Lord Hood, the Top Brass.

" Sir, im detecting multiple slipspace ruptures along the side of the Orbital Defence Ring. Sensors indicate a 93% comfirmation that it is the Covenant."

Lord Hood's reply was simple. "Not again. Assemble all Spartans for briefing. It's time to give them some firsthand combat experience.

* * *

Down below, The Spartans were all scrambling into formation With Russell Marcus at the helm. "All you recruits out here made it through a year old simulation, drafted from early 2553! Some of you might die. Some might survive," he looked at Zack's battalion, "Some will be humiliated and experience more pain than ever imaginable.", as he made his stand as a hater towards the Americans who could do nothing at all but stare through their polarised Visors. "All you green horns who wondered what Brutes look like up close, this is gonna be your lucky day. It's high time I stop doing what I never signed up for and hit the road." With that, he slapped a fresh magazine into his Sniper rifle before concluding with this. "Get to your positions, aim well, and ensure no alien within sight takes one friggin step into our station. Am I clear??"

The reply was an immediate, "Sir yes Sir!"

Russell finished with, "Damn right. Now move! GO! GO! GO!"

Zachariah and Seth were practicing hand to hand combat when the alarm sounded. He immediately grabbed a Battle Rifle before tossing one to Zack who caught it with ease and ran ahead, his new apprentice silently following behind.

* * *

**Orbital Defense Platform Observatory room**

Mark was panicking at first, obviously fearing death, his friends at home along with an incomplete list of pranks he didn't pull on his Spartan best friend, Aaron. Lord Hood put a hand on his shoulder."We'll make it solider, don't worry" Suddenly, an old colony ship limping towards the cluster came into view. Accepting the incoming hail, the reply was, "This is Captain James Cutter of the Spirit of Fire. We are finally home."

Hood searched through the records to confirm. "Damn good timing too. It's been 20 years James. Let's get you up to speed."

It was barely able to stay afloat. The Spirit has sacrificed it's slipspace drive to prevent a larger threat on a shield world from occurring. It sustained multiple wounds from plasma guns and only began to fail as the ship landed.

* * *

**ODP Bridge**

At a doorway lined with terminals, the blue tinted room lined with a red carpet and stairs were fortified with plasma cannons salvaged from the previous war, their own human turrets, and Spartans with rocket launchers at the back ready to make the opening shot. The bulkhead was slowly getting breached,

Seth's only comment was, "Played the 2552 simulation? This should be easy"

Zack had his doubts though. He would know once that bulkhead was opened. True enough, the doors flew open and the heavy artillery fired their salvo into the opening smoke, which cleared to reveal door way littered with Unggoy corpses, commonly referred to as grunts, and stocky sentient creatures who carry triangular methane packs to breathe. Behind them was their true enemy. Ape-like humanoids known as Jiralhanae, known for their brutal, tribe like nature, earning them the moniker 'brutes'.

Their pack oriented formation was difficult to break, each member clad in blue armour throwing down deployable energy covers and a status enhancing fog generator of some kind, defending a leader at the back of every pack. In this case, it was a gold power armor clad Brute Captain Major, the equivalent of a UNSC rank, Captain Grade 3, armed with a crude looking rocket propelled grenade launcher with a serrated blade at the stock, flanked by 2 brute minors in lustrous basic body armor, wielding spikers, sounding their battle cry before attacking. As all this happened, The Spartans concentrated their fire on the brute minors, who actually came in more numbers than originally thought. In fact, an entire pack was waiting in the wings after the first two fell to missile tubes. In retaliation, The Spartans manned their turrets and fired at will, the plasma turrets to striping their armour or any shielding, with the stationary machine guns finishing them with ballistics, In the middle of the battle, Seth and Zack were providing suppressing fire with their battle rifles. 3 short hours of intense practice and Zack was already pulling head shots like someone four times his rank.

After the minors were cleared with some difficulty, it was a simple matter to concentrate all fire on the Major, killing him within seven seconds of concentrated turret fire as everyone else was low on ammunition. As the others rushed back to the armoury to replenish their ammunution, Zack and Seth came prepared with 3 spare clips per person and advanced, meeting up with a group of Marines trying their best to mop up the area of several Grunts, and a single Brute captain in purplish armour, signifying a greater rank. Seth and his team wasted no time in pouring lead into the ape's face and toying with the grunts, killing them three at a time with a single three round burst. A feat that could easily impressed any who saw. Zack called out from not too far away with a loud, "Show off!"

* * *

**Hanger A01**

Later on, He witnessed the Honour Guard do their thing. Snipers at the ready, they marked their kills at such a speed, it was hard to believe that he was actually seeing it. Russell was having a blast, mowing them down one by one was they entered the station through a boarding craft doorway.

"Now this is what I signed up for!" He bellowed in delight as he made every over-penetrating shot count. In the distance, he witnessed a Spartan get blown back due to foolery and excessive taunting during combat, earning the pathetic 'Assassin ninja 4827' a blow to the head. Smirking, Zack followed Seth to the next area. The new Orbital Defense Platform was well protected, but would fall if they didn't get to their assigned posts, which in their case, was hanger bay, where the Brutes had a second way in. After ordering Spartans Diegood 1137 and Aaron to keep an eye out for covenant in this sector, the pair trooped down to the hanger, suppressing every last non human sentient on the way. When they got there, they were in for a surprise, their fight had just begun. Sleek and streamlined Covenant CSS Battle cruiser resembling the shape of the Calabash Nebula roared into view, dropping down more packs, whose leaders were barking orders and performing battle sermons before they did anything else.  
"Control, this is Green Squad, we have an insane amount of Tangos unloading from the hanger. Requesting support."

"Affirmative, Green Squad. Stand By."

Seth's call was answered by the sound of four successive MAC blasts from the Spirit Of Fire ripping through the cruiser, leaving a only two Greater Brute packs lead by Chieftains who were already deployed before the demise of their cruiser. Chieftains coming in two forms. The more armoured War Chieftain clad in Gold-Bronze Power armour with SPARTAN like shielding, sporting a more ornate V shaped head dress, usually armed with a Fuel Rod Gun. A portable weapon sporting a unique design, more akin to a large ornament then a deadly weapon, the barrel of the weapon is long and black covered by thick gold plates that make up the body of the weapon; the ammunition is loaded on the top aft section of the Fuel Rod Gun, and can hold 5 ballistic projectiles, before needing to be reloaded. Because of the weapon's visibility it is just as effective as a psychological weapon.

The other pack was led by a regular chieftain, Clad in lighter black and red trimmed armor, allowing for more mobility since their iconic weapon was the Gravity Hammer, and a less ornate head dress. Their left arm is more armoured, allowing for more devastating melee attacks should the Chieftain go berserk. Seth unslung a rocket launcher he took from the armoury they passed earlier on from his armor.

"Ok, you distract them, while I blow them to pieces. This is gonna be tough. Think you can handle it Zack?"

Zack was no stranger to Brutes so his response was a simple slap of a fresh magazine into his Battle rifle. "No. Let's go"

The hanger was mostly flat, save for some operating machinery that were broken down and computer terminals that were large enough to provide cover. Zack lobbed a few grenades to distract them, before throwing a few pieces of metal in the opposite direction to confuse them. The packs reacted as expected and shot the neighbouring terminals to ruin, leading them to focus their attention from the wreckage of their Ship, which was the opposite direction from what Seth was facing. Seth wasted no time unloading all his missiles into the ape like freaks as Zack mopped up the rest with lead to the head. It would have been over, were it so easy, for the surviving brutes retained their armour, surviving the blast and going berserk. Bad news, Seth was out of Rockets. Zack flipped out a plasma pistol he policed from a grunt and held the trigger, overcharging the weapon as when fired, would blow anyone's energy shields to bits. Zack unleashed the said shot at a nearby Ornately blue armored Brute bodyguard and took the shot before Seth could recover. This was repeated until the area was cleared. Sad to say though, their troubles were far from over. A call from control ordered them back to the bridge. Something was up.

* * *

**ODP Bridge**

"Seth, Zach, thank you for all you've done. I trust you've looked up this man some time ago? Appearing out of nowhere was Captain James Cutter, Captain of the Spirit of Fire, listed MIA for since 2521." Cryosleep ensured he didn't age.

Shaking hands with the Captain, Cutter remarked, "It's good to be home. So do the Spartans on board. Where are they?"

"Upgrading their armor Captain. A lot has changed. Since the Covenant war ended, our allies, the Elites shared their technology with us and we have been able to put energy shielding on all our star ships, though it is still in development and very few ships are field testing it."

While this went on, the entire station vibrated as the titanium armor plating took the brunt of the plasma mortar, coupled with the inner honeycomb structure. Lord Hood called, "Status report!"

"Sir, MAC rows A to C are offline!"

"Damn it. We only have a few cannons left, Call for all Long sword squadrons to form a defensive perimeter around the cluster, and all available troops to sweep the area. We don't want this to end up like the Cairo incident. "

2 years ago, the Last time the Covenant invaded Cairo; they brought bombs with them to blow it up to give their capital ships a straight shot at the planet. Thankfully, the Master Chief found the bomb and re detonated in on the same cruiser that left it there.

As Hood was lamenting, a ONI section 3 researcher named Tymon approached him and quickly stated, "Sir, give Project SPL the go."

"Denied. Tim, Your still pet project in the experimental stages"

Another hit

"Sir! The station won't hold forever!"

Hood had to take a risk. Either it was his Spartans or his Orbital Defence Station. He gave him the green light.

SPL, Suspended Plasma Laser. An attempt to incorporate forerunner technology in UNSC defences. The plasma variant of the MAC, the laser, mounted on an existing A.I operated MAC would be able to kill a Capital Ship in a single 2 round burst. The plasma round would burn through the shields, then the ballistic round to finish it. Soon, the moment of truth came. The capital ship was about to launch its next salvo at the Station. The newly Augmented MAC fired, one, then two, The CSS Battle Cruiser melted at an instant, reaping applause from the onlookers.

However, behind it, Hid the flag ship of the fleet. One that Zack knew too well. A phantom was seen heading for the hanger. By this time, The Spartans from the Spirit of Fire were done with their upgrades, requesting permission to join the fight. Douglas, Jerome and Alice all in green armor looked better than ever, combining the best of the Mark IV, V and VI.

Instinctively, Zack took off without a word, taking only his Battle Rifle, and a plasma rifle. Seth followed, and instinctively, so did Russell. Ben and the three followed Suit. Lord Hood made another announcement.

" All personnel stand by to provide assistance for the Spartans at Hangers A01, A02, and B01."  
Aside from the three who just joined them, Zack, Seth and Ben had a hunch. They reached A02 just as the Phantom was done unloading its occupants to the ground. From behind the wreckage, they looked at their combatants and it was as they feared...

* * *

Well, this is the longest damn thing I've written so far. Cya guys!

Str1ke Ninja

T&R- Rechecked and Edited on 16/11/09. Finally. This was a hard chapter


	9. Return

Str1ke: I r bak with chapter 8.

T&R: Atleast you got my name right this time...

Zack: Str1ke, Truth and Reconciliation or ijijij does not own Halo. Just the new characters. ALL HAIL BUNGIE

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Orbital Defense Platform Hanger**

What stood before him, was a Brute that towered among his kind. His armour, a cross between an Honour Guardsman, a highly ornate blood red armour with jutting spikes on the upper legs and pauldrons glowing with a gold hue, and the sacred armour of the Arbiter, a second ornate armour made of a silvery metal with ornate engravings and metal work. He emitted a glowing energy shield, a pronounced shoulder guard on his right, with a gold rectangular pauldron with Aztec like markings that serves as a shield generator. Despite the appearances, the three Spartans could tell due to his luminous green, snake like eyes. His left eye sported a pronounced scarring, likely due to a blade. It was him.

As soon as backup arrived, Ben held his hand out, meaning 'HOLD'. The brute stepped forward, gesturing aside his pack mates. "We finally meet again human. You will pay for dishonouring me, and the human who gave me this scar will not have the luxury of a quick death."

Zack made his move. The ex-Chieftain of the Jiralhanae was responsible for the deaths of his entire squad the last time their paths crossed. Today, he would finally avenge them. He whipped out his plasma rifle and fired at the right Pauldron, draining his shields. He then grabbed on to him and swung behind, slamming his Battle Rifle into his neck. However, a neighbouring Jiralhanae Honour Guard grabbed his leg and threw him aside."So you're the fool who survived."

"Never thought you were any smart, Xinracus. I will have my vengeance."

With that, Ben finally gave the opening shot, all the Brutes without elaborate head dresses, making up 9 of the 27 adversaries opposing, were downed in an instant, triggering the start of a massive fire fight. Things seemed easy until another phantom arrived with more reinforcements. Seth radioed,"Uh, Green team to Control, I think we have a problem."

Hood and the fleet were having problems of their own. The flagship, a Covenant Supercarrier was unloading its troops while simultaneously beating down on the ODS. The SPL did its job, but the massive fleet kept shielding it, making it difficult. "I'm sending in Short sword bombers to sweep what they can. We have problems of our own. Don't let them breach the Hanger!"

Just as Terrence Hood was running out of options, a Slipspace rupture tore right next to the station.

"It appears you require assistance; fear not, for we brought the might of Sanghelios with us!"

Thel Vadum, more commonly known as the Arbiter responded to Hood's Distress signal. In his flagship, Shadow of Intent, a CSS Battle Cruiser, now they stood a chance. That was not all the good news he brought. Behind the Arbiter, stood a Spartan in a battered olive green armour. "Spartan 117 reporting for duty, Sir."

Lord Hood smiled for the first time in years. The Master Chief was listed MIA since he was separated from the Arbiter due to events unforeseen. Breaking the brief silence, The Arbiter roared, "We will talk later, now, let us quell this mongrel menace! All Cruisers, fire at will!"

The assault began, and soon, the Brutes were being pushed back. However, the Supercarrier just would not be destroyed! Every time its shields flickered, a new layer was beneath. At the very least, The Arbiter's Fleet managed to take out most of the reinforcements.

**Shadow Of Intent – Bridge**

On the Bridge of the Sangheili Carrier, The Arbiter and Spartan 117 were watching the battle displayed on the main view screen.

"Thel, we're not making any progress. We have to board the Supercarrier and eliminate them from within." The Master Chief suddenly stopped talking as Cortana said something in using his internal speakers.

"Change of plans. Cortana tells me that there are multiple Spartan teams active inside the Covenant Supercarrier. Send the boarding parties to assist them."

The Arbiter turned from the main view screen and looked at the Supersoldier. "What about you, Spartan? "

"I'm going to head straight for the Ship's reactor and overload it, the boarding parties and Spartans on board would cause enough noise for the crew of the Ship to be distracted."

Thel nodded and turned to his Communication's officer. "Send our boarding parties once the Spartan is ready. I am also going down with them. I will personally lead a squad to take out the Shipmaster."

**Shadow Of Intent – Hanger A**

Once arriving at the Hanger, they saw squads of Sangheili getting ready and checking their weapons. Once they saw The Arbiter and The Supersoldier, they immediately got into their Phantoms, waiting for the Chief to move first. The Chief eyed a nearby Banshee and got into it, activating its engines while The Arbiter followed a squad into a nearby Phantom.

John flew out of the Shadow of Intent, dodging plasma fire along the way as he and the boarding parties got closer to the massive Covenant Supercarrier.

The voice of his A.I, Cortana was heard. "Chief, I'm hacking into the Covanent battle net and am currently attempting to disable the ship's weapon systems and shields. Note that they will only be down for five seconds so get ready."

A pause was heard while Cortana worked furiously to deactivate the Supercarrier's offensive weapons.

" Done. Supercarrier's weapons and shields are down. Reactivating in Five, four, three, two"

The last phantom of the boarding group sent a comn to Cortana, notifying her that they had breached the area which was under the shield. Said shield reactivated, with all the boarding party inside the shield's range.

The Master Chief spotted a nearby Hanger which had fellow Spartans in it and flew into it, crashing the Banshee into an unlucky Brute while jumping out at the same time.

Armed with a fuel rod cannon and a Sniper Rifle, Chief managed to snipe and blast close to 7 brute packs before landing in a phantom which he took control of and flew it into a neighbouring phantom and set the self destruct. He hopped phantom to phantom and did the same, causing a chain reaction, which was strong enough to destroy all the ground level packs in an explosion. Chief landed, discarded his empty Fuel Rod Cannon and rearmed himself with a MA5C assault Rifle he picked up from a Spartan's body before getting behind cover where all but Xinracus and his pack remained. Zack took a good look at the Legendary Spartan 117.

He looked different from what he saw in the simulation. His torso plates looked similar to the MarK VI, but turned 35 degrees, forming a small depression at the general chest area. Overall, it looked like a cross between Mark V and Mark VI. His pauldrons looked similar to the EVA variant with larger than the standard MJOLNIR plates without the long attachment. The Helmet appeared to be a cross between both MJOLNIR versions as well. The rest of his armour was standard, but upgraded Mark VI with an overall shade of sapphire green.

Pressing on, Zack, Seth, Ben, along with the combined efforts and sacrifices of the Spartans, they took out almost everybody. Xinracus remained unfazed. Something was different about him this time. The Master Chief threw a ball-like piece of equipment with intricate markings and a shuriken like symbol in the centre. The equipment emitted a blue glow which drained and destroyed the regular Brute's power armour. The remaining ones with armour on were the Brute Honour Guards and Xinracus who boldly stated, "Ha! This does not work on me you fool. I will be able to kill two in one. The Demon, and the one who brought me Dishonour!"

Zack, who was firing at the Brute Honour Guards, noticed a beam rifle lying on the floor. He picked it up and aimed it at Xinracus.

With 2 quick shots from the particle Beam rifle, Zack knocked out the Brute's shield generator, partially destroying it and permanently knocking his shield out. He then rushed him with a Battle Rifle and scored a graze to the eye and rendering his left leg useless.

As he was about to close in for a lethal blow, the Honour guards who had to deal with the combined fire power of the Chief's Assault Rifle and Seth's bursts deployed their energy covers and barked, "Leader, you are wounded! Get Back!"

"Very well then Hintarus, Give the order to retreat."

Before he left, he barked, "This is, far from over human. I will return."

With that. he fled in his phantom. Zack ran after it, But the Chief held him back. "Wait."

Zack was pissed. He had a chance to avenge his Squad mates and the Chief had to say no before walking off. Before he lashed out, he reminded himself that it was a living legend he was talking about.

He had to have another way out. True enough, his faith was rewarded. The Chief called command. "Sir, I am going to overload the Ship's core. Permission to take a few of the Spartans."

Meanwhile, Lord Hood was busy commanding his fleet, the space battle was going well with minimal losses, leaving the escort frigates and the Supercarrier itself. "Permission granted , Master chief. They seem pretty eager to prove their worth."

"Thank you, Sir."

Spartan 117 looked at all the Spartans and quickly made his choice.

"Spartans Str1ke Ninja, Q4Vendetta and EnokiMush will join me. The Rest of you, secure the area."

EnokiMush was Russell. All four Spartans boarded a captured and overhauled Spirit Cargo drop ship.

An angular, tuning fork shaped spacecraft with two parallel personnel bays along the exterior of each "prong", the Spirit was capable of holding up to 30 troops and light vehicles like the Ghost. A recon-assault vehicle that boasts a streamlined design and make-up concept to optimize speed and agility, and two wing-like structures on either side for manoeuvrability along with mounted twin plasma cannons for offense.

After the Spartans restocked on ammo and chose their weapons, the hijacked Spirit sped towards the Carrier.

It wasn't going to be easy.

It was pure suicide.

Not for Spartans.

Ok, chapter 8 done. Season semi finale on the way.

T&R – Rechecked on 8/11/09. Damn, so many edits on this one. It may be weird reading two different styles of writing.


	10. Boarding Action

Str1ke: I r bak with chapter 9. Bridging is hell.

T&R: Thats ok. You just have to bear with it until the 17th.

Str1ke: [facepalm]

Zack: Str1ke, Truth and Reconciliation or ijijij does not own Halo. Just the new characters. ALL HAIL BUNGIE

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Outside the Supercarrier**

The overhauled Spirit Dropship, salvaged from the wreckage found near the planet The Chief was drifting on. It was a one of a kind drop ship with the sleek covenant appearance. With the combined fire power of a UNSC Frigate, a Seraph, a banshee, and a wraith, This Spirit could easily contend with a wing of banshees and vampires.

As the Spirit made its way towards the Supercarrier, the voice of Cortana, the Master Chief's A.I could be heard throughout the ship. "Ok boys, here's the plan. Once we get inside, take whatever heavy weapons you have and clear the area. We will decide what to do after we secure the hanger. Alert. Be advised, multiple contacts detected. Proceed with caution. Rockets in place, we're going in deep and we're going in hard!"

The Spartans were going to need their rockets. For when they got inside, they were towered by a few phantoms, and a hunter pair with some of the lesser races like Unngoy and Kig Yar, commonly referred to as Jackals, a skinny, slender saurian species that serve as scouts or snipers due to their keen sense of sight, smell and hearing.

Hunters are literally walking tanks. They take a bipedal form for combat and are the strongest, most resilient species in the covenant because a Hunter is a colony known as Mgalekgolo. Their armour trademarks are spiked appendages that rise from their shoulders, which they use to communicate, along with an impervious tower shield made from the same alloy as the Supercarrier. Hunters always come in pairs because they are bond brothers, from the same colony of orange, worm like organisms that inhabit the armour. They wield a powerful assault cannon fed by 6 tubes housing the fuel liquid with two firing modes, mortars and a beam mode where reloading is required.

Hunters fired on the Spirit like a drum, while the present crew grabbed their weapons. "Hunters alert! Get those missiles in the air! Master Chief, let's go."

After Cortana's last orders, the doors opened. Everyone jumped into the hot zone with all guns blazing, spraying in short, controlled bursts at a mixture of Grunt, Jackals and Brute minors who were flanking the Hunter pair who shrugged off everything that hit them. The Master Chief wasted no time and sprung into action once everyone was on the upper level of the hanger, with the Spirit on auto pilot in Cortana's hands providing suppressing fire while The Spartans did their thing. Russell pulled off a few 4 in 1's with a few lesser brute packs led by captain majors while Seth and Zack let their grenades and Battle Rifles do the talking. The Chief ran, jumped on some grunts, using them as stepping stones. He grabbed and swung around a brute minor, giving him enough momentum to fly right into the Hunter pair. The Master Chief then grabbed two plasma grenades and tapped the arming buttons, tagging the first, then the next, before somersaulting on to a Jackal, crushing it with his Mjolnir armor's sheer weight. Cortana quipped, "Why must you always do things the hard way Chief?"

Chief said nothing other than, "Load those missiles on to the vacant aircrafts. Put them to better use."

The Spartans flashed their acknowledgement lights and proceeded to blast everything in the room to dust.

"Cortana, set the Spirit to self destruct. We will escape with the banshees."

Cortana's reply had a hint of worry. "Chief, I'm detecting survivors in the brig. We have to get them out of there!"

"Ideas?"

"Split up into teams of 4. It looks like there is more than one brig in this ship."

* * *

**Brig complex A**

Chief took 3 Spartans as Blue Team and went off. Zack took Russell, Seth and Aaron with him and charged the door to his right while the other teams left to sweep the other floors. The architecture of the place was curved, sleek, purple, and confusing with its large array of hallways and corridors. Were it not for the waypoint provided by Cortana, it would have taken them forever to find the Brig. After dispatching multiple Covenant sleeping on the job, The team wound up in the Brig. Lined with 2 floors of energy shielded cells, and a lone control panel in the centre of the room.

The group quickly swept the place, only to find that most of the cell occupants were dead, dying, or insane. However, there was one who retained his sanity. The last cell on the top right floor laid a lone ODST in Matte Black body armor. Zack's eyes widened and quickly disabled the shield doors. Chris Blink was Zack's Fellow Squad mate and childhood friend. They saved each other from uncountable death traps and setbacks. The day he stayed behind to cover their ill fated escape tore him apart and left him in a mess for weeks. Now, He was here. Alive, sitting right beside him. Depolarizing his helmet's visor to reveal a handsome, tanned face, full of relief and concern, Zack took Chris' helmet off too. A tired, but relieved face met the gaze of his long time friend."Seth, Russell, guard the door."

Zack's attention was focused on catching up with Chris and what happened to him since the events that have transpired.

"Zack..you found me..." Chris said in a weak voice

"I didn't believe it when I saw it myself. Glad your alive, Chris." Zack followed up with a bear hug.

As much as Chris was relishing the moment, he already resigned to the assumption that he did not have long to live left. "I see you finally made it to the Spartan program. Always knew you would. 'Cough cough'" He was literally coughing blood.

"I'm a dead man Zack. 'cough cough' I have a map of the place stored in my helmet," He reached into the chip slot in his helmet and presented its occupant to his friend. "The covenant remnants are renewing their Crusade. They have found another Halo ring. Take my helmet chip, and my camera. It has voice clips of the Brutes discussing their plans for war, find them. I can rest in peace knowing I can die with you by my side. Finally, don't forget, I will never leave you, even in death."

Zack said nothing. Although his vital scans showed him to be healthy, Chris decided to just wait it out until his time came. He was known for his self assurance and to an extent, a strong will.

Suddenly, he heard the Brig doors smash open. The Brute jailer and his friends were mad to see their only sane and live prisoner escaping. Armed with Brute shots and Maulers, they were bent on killing the intruders and gaining favour with the new Chieftain.

"Regardless of whether you will live or die, I'm not gonna just leave you here!".

Zack detached a fairly large explosive from the side of his armor, along with a detonator he passed to Chris. As Chris began to throw the T9 explosive, Zack's world slowed to a halt. He put himself between his friend and the incoming grenades coming from brute shots. Chris threw the explosive under a brute, just in time for Zack to hit the detonator, blasting the brutes to kingdom come.

Pulling Chris into a Fireman's carry, Zack yelled, "Let's get the hell out of here!" while charging towards a sign that says 'Exit, this way'

"Looks like the brutes are THAT dumb, after all."

* * *

**Brig complex B**

"All Spartans, we have a situation. Return to the Hanger bay immediately" sounded the voice of Cortana.

Elsewhere, two Spartans in white who left as a pair walked into an empty brig filled with dead bodies,. Suddenly, a huge shockwave threw them back. Scrambling to their feet, their eyes fixed on a powerful adversary clad in black and red ornate armour. The Spartans murmured, "well, another hammer for us.", as the pair sprang into action.

* * *

**Brig complex C**

Standing in White EOD armour, a Scout helmet along with EVA shoulders, Ryan blasted yet another Brute into oblivion with a stolen Fuel Rod cannon. His Brother Lucas, like his brother, donned the EOD armour, but kept most of the standard Mark VI in Red, but with a left Grey CQB plate for the shoulder. He had a strong preference for close quarter combat and readily slammed his Shotgun into a nearby grunt that failed to get close to his brother. "Good shot Lucas! Maybe they might promote you after this is over!"

"Are we still going to compare kill counts by the end of this? I--" Lucas' statement was cut short by the sound of discharged plasma.

"Never mind! Cover me! I'm running dry on both my weapons!"

The brothers 'troubles didn't stop there. Since the Supercarrier was so massive, grunts were allowed to drive ghosts to get from place to place. One such ghost roared its way in, threatening to splatter the two Spartans into distant memory.

With his SMG out of ammo and a ghost closing in fast, Lucas threw it in the air and caught it by the barrel. With the incoming ghost meters away, he swung the SMG, cutting off the grunt pilot's methane tank, throwing it out of his seat, spraying methane gas into the air . Ryan jumped in and directed it into the nearby Brutes that had been giving them trouble, before jumping off as it sailed through a door, knocking many more covenant troops into where ever the door lead. Ryan and Lucas smiled through their face plates as they heard screams of death echoing throughout their part of the vessel, following an explosion a few seconds later."Lets grab what we can, loot the nearby armoury, and continue on."

"Good idea" whistled Ryan as they proceeded towards their next destination.

"Wait, I don't think the ghost went far..."murmured Ryan as a battered image of the Ghost came into view, flanked by two wraiths.

A hatch popped open, revealing a Spartan with a shiny new gravity hammer. "Couldn't resist scaring us, eh Ruben?", laughed Lucas as the brothers clambered into their respective gunner seats after looting the armoury and sped towards the hanger bay.

"What do you want for that hammer?"

"Hey! That's my trophy you melee monger!"

"Ruben, Ryan, lets sort that later."

"Fine." Both Spartans muttered under their breath.

* * *

Ok, chapter 9 complete. Next update may take some time. cya then.

Str1ke

T&R- Rechecked and edited on 8/11/09


	11. Escape

Str1ke: Hey guys. Managed to churn this out in time. Bridging is still hell.

ijijij: Relax man. your not the only one.

Str1ke: Tell our A Maths teacher that he sux.

ijijij: you did. in his face.

Str1ke: Really?

T&R: Too bad i was sick on that day..

Zack: Str1ke, Truth and Reconciliation or ijijij does not own Halo. Just the new characters. ALL HAIL BUNGIE

* * *

**Escape**

**Supercarrier Hanger Alpha**

"Ok, all teams Status report. We don't have much time."

"Green team, found a survivor."

"Teams Red and White, we brought an entire armory back."

The other Spartans had similar reports, one group finding an entire squad of marines about to be jettisoned into the sun. All were willing to fight, but the Master Chief had other plans. All the surviving Marines were either exhausted or injured and would die if they stayed.

"Cortana! We have to get the survivors out of here. Get everyone to safety. Spartans, Marines, everyone!"

"What about you?"

"I will stay here and send this carrier into the sun."

While the Chief pointed his Assault Rifle at the door, out came a elite brute pack lead by a Warrior chieftain. Chris managed to pull a few head shots before getting a spike impaled into his left arm. Zack dragged him in, shielding him with his own armor, evidently grazing his scout pauldron in the process, leaving Seth to question his actions later on. "That's it! Everyone, fall back to the Spirit, GO, GO, GO!"

As the Master Chief was forced behind cover, with only the Chieftain remaining, he noticed a lone banshee flying in. The Banshee fired a fuel rod blast at the Chieftain, taking out its shield and heavily wounding it. That was enough for the Master Chief to pump it full with armor piercing rounds.

"I thought you said you wanted to sit this one out."

Thel Vadum landed the Banshee on the body of the Chieftain and jumped out, sword at the ready. "I have served on a Supercarrier back when I was in the Covenant. You need me around if you want to destroy it."

"You know, I could do it alone just fine but.." The Chief reloaded and recocked his MA5C.

"Were it so easy." The Arbiter readied his Energy Sword.

**Spirit Dropship**

Back on the Spirit, Chris was given first aid while Zack got pulled aside. Seth was most displeased. "What have I told you about getting close with you comrades? You know very well emotional attachments are deadly and..."

Seth ranted on but was cut off when they received new orders from command. "Spartans, rendezvous at Alpha point. From there, get the Pelicans and infiltrate from the other hanger."

Pelicans, the UNSC's primary tactical support aircraft are multipurpose dropships that can be refitted to carry either infantry or vehicles. The main engines are mounted in pairs in four nacelles, one situated on each wing and two at the rear and posterior. The nacelles operate independently, increasing maneuverability in low level areas.

"I'm putting Benjamin as your IC He's the best man for the task at hand. Failure is not an option. If what the Intel Chris gave us is true, then we are all doomed unless you succeed. Reinforcements will not arrive on are alone on this. Good luck Spartans."

"Sir Yes Sir!"

Ben activated the SQUADCOM and began rapping out orders. "Seth, this way, bring your apprentice. Russell, come with me. By the way, now is a good time to try that new trick you have been working on."

**Covenant Supercarrier**

Door to door, the Master Chief, along with the Arbiter and a few Sangheili volunteers systematically made their way down to the Bridge. At the corner the last doorway, what stood between them was a full pack of Honor guards led by not one, but 2 chieftains. Noticing this, Thel detatched a power drain from his armour which he had policed from a covenant corpse and handed it to the Chief.

"Spartan, I'm going in from the back. Keep them occupied."

The Chief nodded and entered the doorway, bringing himself in full view of the brutes.

As the Chief and the elites opened fire on the pack, The Arbiter, engaging his active camouflage, a temporary state which rendered him virtually invisible, used the ensuing chaos to sneak behind the War Chieftain. With that, he jumped and lunged toward the cheiftain, decapitating the Brute Chieftain's head with a single swipe of his energy sword, before crudely elbowing the other Chieftain on the neck, snapping it with sheer brute force. Using his peripheral vision, he spotted an object flying at him and he leapt to the side, slicing an incoming brute's neck in the process. He spun around to find the power drain he picked up was activated by the Master Chief. The Spartan switched to shredder rounds and he picked off the remaining Brutes, unloading clip after clip of automatic fire, reducing the Brute pack to nothing more than lead filled ape corpses in battered scrap metal.

"Arbiter, I will look for the engine room and detonate it. You take care of things here."

"As you wish Spartan. I have a personal score to settle here as well."

"Good luck. Let's end this."

They parted ways and proceeded to finish the task at hand.

* * *

In the Bridge, Xinracus was getting negative feedback pertaining to his current state all together. His fleet was gone, his flagship was boarded, and he just sustained another scar from the human who scarred his eye the first time. "Captain. We have no choice but to abandon ship."

Standing at the console that lay before him, he sighed as he barked the order. "Release the Parasite. It is our last resort."

The door blew open, killing the door guard in the process. Xinracus spun around and brandished his Gravity hammer and took one last glance at the weapon before thinking, 'Have I made the right choice?'

The unsaid thought was answered by an Elite clad in ornate silver armor with an Energy sword in hand.

As The Arbiter stood to face his opponent, Xincarus chuckled. "So this is how it ends."

* * *

**Covanent Supercarrier - Hanger Delta**

The wing of Pelicans that hovered over the streamlined Supercarrier did not have long to unload its occupants, nor did they have to wait. As soon as the drop point, the hanger nearest to the engine core, was within reach, the Spartans jumped feet first, landing with a roll, going in guns blazing. Russell was finally confident enough to try out his new trick with the Battle Rifle, a trick the veterans called the BxR, or to greenhorns, the melee shot, where one quickly melees the opponent with his weapon in a blur before quickly firing a 3 round burst of lead to the head. It is known to be so quick, that SPARTAN IIs were known to make it look like the rounds came from the butt of the weapon. Fortunately, Russell mastered it in time to help his less skilled counterparts from suffering a bloody death.

Meanwhile, against Seth's better judgment, Zack stood with Russel back to back, systematically taking out anything that resembled an ape that came in their way. From the comments and complaints that followed, Zack began to see Seth's true colors. He was not exactly self centered, but not necessarily a team player either, always looking out for himself over his team mates, as he had witnessed. This caused Zack's loyalties to split between his new found bond with Seth's brother, with whom he chatted a lot with whenever they could, or his Master from the beginning. Zack didn't have much time to think as a Brute came charging towards him, derailing his train of thought. Centimeters away from its claws, Russell rolled in and BxRed its face."Stop day dreaming and get back to it! Think about nothing but the battle for now." Zack decided to shelve his thoughts and concentrate as they pushed their way in further and further to the engine room. As they blew opened the locked door, they found a Spartan in olive green armor designated by their HUD as John-117 ready to overload the core. The said Spartan spun around, weapons at the ready.

"Sir, friendlies at your six! "

Spartan 117 relaxed and turned back to the core.

**Spartan-117 POV**

"Cortana, are you sure the coordinates are right?"  
"I calculate a 98.4 percent chance that it is correct…wait, incoming transmission, Deep scan, cleansing, Chief, you're not going to like this."

A slow hum began to sound. Suddenly, the room flashed, followed by a loud burst. The Spartans glanced at their motion trackers through scorched eyes, only to find red blips all over the radar."Chief, your shields are down; take cover now!"

The Chief eyed an M90 shotgun on the ground and discarded his side arm in favor of the new weapon. He continued to run, only to fall into a hole in the ground as a incoming spike nearly grazed his armor. The fall almost brained him.

"Chief? Chief! Are you okay?"

The Spartan looked up, only to find yellowish biomass covering most of what used to look like a cargo hold. Standing infront of him were not one, not two, but three hulking flood forms twice his size, sporting razor edged tenticles for arms, along with a large 'Head', sporting feelers for a mouth, a small waist and bone like legs. The Master Chief had survived two before, but three in close quarters would be a challenge.

"The Flood?" The Chief gasped

The Chief changed rounds again as he pumped a full clip of Armour Piercing rounds into the Juggernauts, it seemed that they would simply shrug it off and just regenerate from available biomass on the floor, which was in abundance. As the Master Chief was dodging the trio's pairs of tentacles out to kill him, Cortana spoke through his internal speakers, "Chief, incendiary grenade to your three."

The Chief spied a small rocket shaped, capsule like grenade that had a red glow lying on the floor. The Type-3 Antipersonnel/Antimateriel Incendiary Grenade, otherwise known as a firebomb, functioned akin to the Molotov cocktail, burning anything upon impact, especially the flood. Their bodies, consisting of sickly yellowish biomass would not escape the flames. The Chief picked them up, armed one, and threw it at the incoming Juggernaut. The titan thrashed as it was set ablaze, only to burn the biomass floor to nothing. One down, two left, and only a single firebomb left. The Chief sprinted, building momentum to swing on the second Juggernaut's tentacle and grab on, blasting its feelers to oblivion with his Shotgun. With that, he directed the directionless giant towards the remaining Juggernaut, and slammed its tentacle into its tiny excuse for a chest. The Chief then shoved the last grenade into the titan he was on and jumped away as both of the hulking monstrosities lit up and collapsed in seconds, leaving a large ash mark on the now visible area of starship flooring.

"That went well." whistled Cortana.

"Our troubles aren't over just yet."

The remaining biomass came alive and retreated, amalgamating together to form a large spider like creature. Eyeless, with feelers in its place and four tentacles in its head, along with visible movement from under its skin, possibly more flood forms. "Oh shit."

The Chief sprinted again, this time, towards the opening in the ceiling from which he fell, noticing a gravity hammer lying on the floor. He picked it up and checked its charge. It was full.

"Lucky me."

Armed with a new weapon, the Master Chief charged towards the abomination and delivered an over charged shockwave, along with the crushing weight of the hammer head, to the new flood form's supposed head, then the abdominal area, killing whatever was squirming inside the body. The Chief whipped out his Assault Rifle and thoroughly searched the supposed corpse, pumping lead into the centre of its mass and where ever he saw something squirm. As he dragged it to where the hole was overhead, the sounds from the upper level was worrying.

* * *

"Ah, I remember you, the brute who wished to devour my flesh."

"While you are just another Heretic in my eyes, Arbiter. I will at last feast on your bones."

Picking up an energy sword from one of his fallen comrades, the Arbiter readied both swords and roared. Xinracus leapt left, then right, and lunged towards his adversary, swinging it downwards. The Arbiter dodged, feigned left, and slashed twice, first from the right, then the left, leaving burns on the Chieftain's arms.

Some of the Arbiter's comrades saw this as an opening and charged forward with their Energy Swords, only to be swatted like flies as Xinracus swung his hammer around his head, totally unfazed by the burns he sustained. The Arbiter used this as a distraction and lunged forward, thrusting both swords at the beast's heart. However, Xinracus stepped back, barely missing the swords' edges and stabbed the butt of his weapon in the Arbiter's stomach,before slamming the head of the weapon into the Arbiter's chest, landing a glancing blow as The Arbiter twisted so as to reduce the force and making his shields overload. The Sangheili slammed onto the wall before crouching behind cover as his shields recharged.

Seizing his chance, Xinracus moved in for the kill, only to be hindered by plasma fire coming from the Arbiter's compatriots, who recovered from the earlier shockwave. Annoyed, Xinracus leapt and slammed the ground again with his hammer, the shockwave sending them out of the room before he locked the door and smashed the keypad, preventing entry. Recovering from the blow, the Arbiter noticed that one of his swords' edges was blunting with the lack of energy. He set the output to overdrive and threw it at the Brute. Xinracus almost didn't notice it and attempted to deflect it with a shockwave. However, he was a little bit late as the sword exploded upon impact, with the Chieftain in the blast radius.

Wasting no time, The Arbiter lundged forward and kicked him in the face as he fell. Xinracus shrugged off the impact, grabbing the Arbiter's leg and slamming him to the ground. In retaliation, the Arbiter lashed out with his sword, intending on slicing the Brute's legs off. The Brute noticed this and leapt back. However, that came with a price, as the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae lost his balance, giving the Arbiter enough time to get back up on his feet. Both were breathing hard as they faced each other again.

Standing on either side of the now destroyed circular bridge of the ship, the two combatants slowly circled on another, daring each other to make the first move. The Arbiter took a step forward, making the Chieftain hold his Battered Gravity Hammer in a guard before dropping it, seeing as it was only a feint. The Arbiter noticed that his sword was staring to flicker and realised that he had to end the battle before his only weapon deactivated. The Sangheili warrior ran forward and jumped, before raising his energy sword and slashed downwards, using gravity to aide his attack. The Brute Chieftain raised his Gravity Hammer in a high block, only for the Arbiter's sword to cut right through the handle. The Chieftain tried to attack using the two parts of the Gravity hammer, only for The Arbiter to parry both before thrusting his sword straight to his head. As fate would have it, the sword cut out at the last moment and The Sangheili punched the Brute Chieftain straight in the face with the hilt of the deactivated sword instead of stabbing heated plasma into the Brute's head. The Brute's head snapped back with the force of The Arbiter's punch, only to grab the Sangheili by the shoulders and headbutting him and throwing him to the side. The Arbiter's back hit a wall and he slowly slid down, watching in horror as the Chieftain slowly walked towards him, The Sangheili's vision turning repeatedly turning from black to normal and black again.

"So endes the life of the Holy Arbiter" Xincarus laughed as he raised his broken gravity hammer for the final blow.

All of a sudden, the locked door blew open and Sangheili"s ran into the room, firing overheated bolts of plasma at the Chieftain.

"Another day Arbiter, we shall meet again."

The Brute Chieftain dodged the Plasma and opened a hidden door, closing and locking it before any of his adversaries could enter it.

The Arbiter slowly got to his feet and looked at his men, only to find looks of despair and exhaustion.

"Brothers, what has happened?"

"Arbiter, the parasite. It is here."

"The Spartan has gone to overload the Ship's core. Come, we must leave immediately."

* * *

"Control, This is Ben. We have a parasitic situation and requesting backup, I repeat…"

Benjamin Khoo was in a tight spot. Up against the flood was the only enemy he was defenseless against, as his sniper meant virtually nothing. Luckily, Seth tossed a shotgun to him and he managed to hold his own to some extent with assistance from his new partner, Brandon, referred to as Range72 in the battlefield . His white and blue color scheme was Identical to Ben's; along with mostly Hayabusa with a katana, Mark V helmet, and Mark VI right shoulder, known for his versatility.

"Hey Ben! Is this the 7th time I saved your $?"

"Not now Brandon! Less talking and more fighting!"

'BANG'

The situation was not going so well. Already a quarter of the strike force was already succumbing to the flood threat and was either incapacitated, dead or turned. Everyone was low on ammunition and morale. As effective as they were, Brothers Seth and Russell, along with Zack were all beginning to feel fatigued. The situation seemed bleak, until, a voice sounded near their position

"Need a hand?"

Sprinting through the doorway, Spartans Jerome, Alice and Douglas acrobatically entered the fight, taking out whatever was left of the wave surrounding them. Behind them, a single black Cyclops came into view. The Cyclops, a disused bipedal exoskeleton mainly used for vehicle repair and breaking down structures, was brought into use once again for one last time. It was armed with gattling guns attached to its arms and two rocket pods on its shouldiers, with a pilot clad in what appeared to be ODST armor operating it.

The Cyclops did its job and fired rounds and missiles into the centre of the convanent forces, turning them into bullet ridden corpses, giving exhausted Spartans time to recover, along with receiving fresh ammo from reinforcements. The battle damaged black Cyclops fired upon flood form after flood form before it walked right into harm's way between Zack and yet another incoming flood wave that was giving him a hard time. Zack witnessed the pilot jump out of the emergency hatch located on the back of the Cyclops as it unleashed all its ammunition before blowing itself up, effectively single handedly downing a wave of re animated flood forms. There was only one person Zack knew who would do that. "Chris? Is it you?"

Kneeling in what appeared to be ODST body armor, Chris Blink stood as tall as the other Spartans. Wearing an experimental armor suit in the style of a close combat ODST variant, where red armor plates the chest and the shoulder, along with the combat knife compartment shamelessly plagerized from the CQB Mjolnir Variant. Chris Blink was back, and ready to kick ass with his best friend once again. Depolarizing their face plates, both smiled to each other and nodded. Sprinting along opposite sides of the wall, both armed with shotguns, the two friends on both sides of the corridor, firing bursts into incoming flood before side jumping towards the wall and kicking it, pushing themselves towards the grabed each other's arms and flew each other in opposite directions where upon landing, a string of grenade explosions were heard, ending the flood next wave of flood.

Seth watched the display in disbelief. Why would he bother to do that when it would be easier to line the area with grenades and blow it up instead of doing acrobatics? Unlike the rest, he didn't get it. It was not about combat efficiency, but about close friends enjoying the time they had together as team mates. Seth did not have close ones to name of since he kept his distance from everyone other than the public eye to keep up appearances.

While fighting the next wave, a communication link activated in Seth's helmet.

"This is Cortana, Spartan-117 has just overloaded the Covanent supercarrier's engine core. I recommend immediate evacuation of the ship. I estimate the ship is going to blow in fifteen minutes..Hang on..Negative. Code red.. I repeat code red. The Core is destabilizing faster than i thought. Commander, the ship will blow in ten minutes. Get your men out of there now!"

Seth looked up and opened up a communication link to all the Spartans under his command

"Spartans, we have a code red. The Ship's going to blow in ten. Fall back towards to Pelicans immediately!"

The Spartans flashed their acknowledgement lights and raced back towards their Pelicans, the flood chasing them from ran towards their transports and secured themselves, their Pelicans' guns and missiles covering their soon as they were all in, The Pelicans made a 180 and flew off, thrusters put to the maximum.

As they raced off into the blackness of space, the covanent cruiser behind them exploded from the centre. Secondary explosions lined the entire length of the ship as it flew apart. At the edge of the explosion, a single banshee could be seen rushing out with its boosters put on full. Seth noticed this and spoke to the pelican pilot.  
"Jonathen, Target the banshee and blow it out of the sky."

As the targeting computers of the pelican gave a beep, sounding that they had a lock on the covanent vehicle, a deep voice sounded from the Craft's speakers.

"Hold your fire, This is Sierra One-One-Seven."

"Glad to see you made it Chief. We all thought you were dead." Jonathen spoke.

"You wish." Cortana's voice spoke as her figure appeared over the Pelican's hologram.

"Activating AI navigating system, its time to go home."

* * *

Standing behind the doors of a private hanger, Xinracus, with the help of his aide limped his way to his private Seraph where he would make his escape. "Chief, we have to get out of here. The day is lost."

"I have been blinded by ambition, Hintarus. Do you believe the council will forgive me?"

"I do not know. We have been pack mates for years. I will stand with you until the day I---" Hintarus was cut off.

Grasping the neck of the Honor Guardsman was a tentacle. Not just any tentacle, the will of the flood leader, the Gravemind. "Deceit, my tolerance is reached. Your promise of victory yielded the opposite. My blood spilled by machine! Uninformed of heavy resistance I was. A fool to believe you, I was."

Xinracus was speechless. His only companion was at the mercy of the Gravemind. He had to do something quick or they both would die. "Alright. I will fulfill my end of the bargain once we land on the next ring where you can recuperate. On the condition you release your hostage."

"Rewards will be great if this new vow holds true. This life I spare is to you, your stake."

The Brutes quickly powered up the horse shoe crab shaped vehicle and fled the battle, with the once glorious super carrier imploding to oblivion behind them.

* * *

**Orbital Defense Platform**

A hero's welcome was waiting for all who were aboard. As soon as administration was finished, the participating Spartans were ordered to the Auditorium of the yet un named Orbital Defence platform cum Spartan training center."For a first mass mission, you responded beyond my expectations. All of you. I have some medals to give out and as an extra reward for all your efforts, everyone will get a promotion."

Zack, Seth, Russell, to name a few were called back to receive their medals. "Captain Russell, your actions saved many lives today. A feat worthy of any hero. You are awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal and the Marksmanship medal among others." Russell accepted the medal and stood at attention where he stood.

"Lieutenent Zachariah, I had my doubts about you, but you pulled through. You are awarded the Soldier's Medal for saving a fellow soldier's life life. To Master Sergent Chris Blink, I award the Prisonor Of War medal for staying alive for that long under hellish conditions.... "

After the ceremony, Zack sat in his barrack content. He could take some time off to reminiscence about his life as a ODST before he hit the sack. He had came a long way from what he had been a few months back and needed some time to think about all that has happened since then and now. One thing intrigued him though. The fact that the new Covenant discovered another Halo ring might have something to do with what happened back then a few years ago...

* * *

**Unknown Location, Earth**

**1600 Hours**

"I see, you have decided to come."

"Yes sir."

A chair swiveled around, the occupant standing up, revealing it to be Colonel Ackerson.

"Surpised to see that I survived?"

The other showed no reaction apart from the widening of his eyes, in which Ackerson did not notice.

"Your mission is to evaluate the skills of one of our Spartans. Here are his files. I am looking to recruit him into ONI"

Ackerson picked up a few documents and files from his desk and slid it to a figure on the opposite of the table who promptly stopped it with a hand.

"Inside, you will also find the person you will be masquerading. All the infomation you need will be provided by the file." The figure opened the file and read its contents before rising an eyebrow.

"A Spartan, Sir?"

"Don't give me that look. We all know your skills can surpass the majority of the Spartans and those god damned Spartan IIs. Just so you know, this is a highly classified mission. If you are discovered, there will be no evidence leading you to us. But, if things go south, use these codes for access to ground and air support."

Ackerson passed a piece of paper to the figure, who promptly kept it.

"Understood, Sir."

The figure stood up, knowing a dismissal when he heard one.

"Oh, and Gregory?"

The figure turned back.

"Gregory died during the Covenent war. You know i go by my code name now."

There was a pause as both men faced each other.

"Fine then, I wish you luck, Captain Tales."

The only reply was of the door hissing close.

* * *

Str1ke: woot! done! next arc on the way.

T&R: you still have to edit for errors.

Str1ke: oops?

T&R: rechecked and edited massivly by T&R on 8/11/09.


End file.
